Transmission control means



J 1951 E. R. PRICE 2,536,462

TRANSMISSION comm. mums Original Filed Jan. 19, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //0 j 5 /06 l/Z ii- #510 m /22 INVENTOR. 5,421. A. pR/C6.

BY t

Arro/zwe y Patented Jan. 2, 1951 TRANSMISSION common MEANS Earl R. Price, South Bend, Ind., assiznor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Delaware Original application January 19, 1946, Serial No.

Divided and this application November 21, 1947, Serial No. 787,373 i i 1 i This invention relates to force transmitting means for operating two cranks of a power plant such for example as the two cranks of a three v speeds forward and reverse automotive transmission mechanism. Many of the three speeds forvide a simple and compact clutch mechanism of ward and reverse selective gear transmissions of relatively few parts said mechanism being operthe present day automotive vehicle inc ude a ated to disengage the clutch by a certain operacrank for operating the shift rail selecting mechtion of the driving element of the clutch; and in anism of the transmission and a crank for actua preferred embodiment of my invention said ating the selected rail to establish the-transmisl0 driving element is moved both axially and ansion in the desired setting; and the mechanism gularly in effecting the de-clutching operation. of my invention may be employed to operate said The above and other objects and features of cranks. the invention will appear more fully hereinafter Yet another object ofmy invention is to profrom a consideration of the following description vide manually and power operateld force tirgnsgaken in clonniection withd the taccti lmpiinying mitting means, including a manua y opera serawings w ere n one embo imen of he nvenlector lever, for successively operating two cranks, tion is illustrated by way of exam le. a portion of said force transmitting means being Figure 1 i a diagrammatic i i l i the Operable either manually or y p w r ate will force transmitting means of my invention emof the driver, the power operation being efiected ployed as a part, of the mechanism f operating by moving the selector lever to a certain posian automotivetmnsmission; tion. Figure 2 is a wiring diagram of the electrical Another object of my invention is to include, mechanism disclosed in Figurel; in the mechanism for operailon a Speeds Figure 3 is a view disclosing the principal forward and reverse automotive transmission, a features of the force transmitting means cam control mechanism ncluding a clutch, said mechstitutmg my invention; anism mak ng possible, at the will of the driver Figure a sectional View taken on the line the Vehlclef' cQmplete manual 4-4 of Figure 5, disclosing certain details of the ation of the transmission or a power operation a mechanism of Figure 3; and tpereof to efieci? certam settmgs of the Figurefi is a front view of the force transmiti gear i lever i the trailsmlsswn 9 ting'means of my invention, said view being taken eratmg mechanism remaining stationary during on the 1mm of E the latter operation; A disclosed in ur the mechanism f'm The trend of the present day change speed 1 d e t th t. o transmission mechanism of an automotive velpven mcu a par o i hicle is toward'a power operated mechansm such f opera mg m am Sm i au we as a pressure diiierential operated motor means; hlcle sald mech'fmlsm F m a three Speeds and said mechanism serves to operate the transforward reverse FW P Q of Well known mission automatically. It is desirable, however, deslgn Thls transmlssmn is operated by means that the driver have the option of manrallyop- 40 of a manually operated a and a Power crating the transmission; and such an operation and manually Operated crank I 4 .the crank i I! is necessary in the event of the failure of the ser'vmg f zh g g fil gfigfig h' aforementioned wer me us. It is accordingly amsm 0 e Tansmlsslon an 9 servan object of fi f, to provide a clutch ing to operate that part of the transmission tune-. mechanism adapted to be incorporated in the t10ning t0 ove the selected rail establish the transmission operating mechanism of the power a m n in desires gear ratog With siuih lant of th vehicle said mechanism makin sa ransmlsswn 6 G Inns 8 move 0 sible a mifnual operation of the transm is i on transmission posit on 1to neutiralize til; and also serving to disconnect the gear shift anSmiSSiOn b fore t e hif r S8180 a Or lever of the transmission from the remainder of m y be pe d. V v the mechanism when the transmission is being My invention has to do with the manually an power operated. The clutch mechanism of my power operated means for actuating the aforeinvention is not, however, limited in its use in mentioned cranks l2 and it however it is to be the power plant of an automotive vehicle; for particularly noted that said invention is not limsaid mechanism'may be used in any power plant ited to a mechanism for operating the transmis- 4 Claims. (Cl. 74-335) where a member, such as a crank, is to be actuated either manually or by power means at the will of the driver.

Yet another object of my invention is to prosion of an automotive vehicle; for said mechanism may also be employed to operate two cranks of any type of power plant where it is desirable to either manually operate both of said cranks or, at the will of the driver, operate one of said cranks by power means. i

The essence of myinvention lies in the crank operating force transmitting means disclosed in detail in Figures 3, 4, and 5 and in a power means cooperating therewith. One embodiment'of the latter means is disclosed in Figure 1." however various means other than that disclosed in this figure may be used to actuate the crank I4.

The embodiment of my invention disclosed in Figure 1 is also disclosed in my application No. 642,240, filed January 19, 1946, the instant application constituting a divi ion thereof; and this embodiment includes a manually and power operated means for operating the change speed transmission of an automotive vehicle, the clutch of the vehicle being operated to facilitate said operation.

Briefly describing the mechanism of Figure l the friction clutch, not shown, is operably connected to a clutch throw out shaft I8 to which is keyed a crank member 20 contactable by a flange member 22 extending laterally from a crankmember 24 rotatably mounted on the shaft I8. The conventional manually operated clutch pedal 28 of the car is operably connected, by a link 28, to a crank 30 which isdrivably connected to the shaft I8. -Asis disclosed in Figure 1 the connection between the crank 30 and link 28 is of the lost motion type to obviate'a movement of the clutch pedal when the clutch i power operated by the mechanism des ribed hereinafter.

The shift rail operating cranks I2 and I4 are actuated by force transmitting means including a rotatable and bodily movable shaft 32 extending alongside the steering column 34 of the vehicle. As is disclosed in Figures 1, 3, and 4, the shaft 32 is biased downwardly by a spring 38 posit oned between a stop 38. mounted on the steering-column and a crank member which is operably connected, to said shaft by means of a clutch mechanism '42 described hereinafter. A shift lever 43 mounted beneath the steering wheel 45 is so connected to the shaft 32 that a rotation of said lever in a plane parallel to said wheel effects a rotation of shaft about its longia gear setting; and this connection between the shift lever and shaft 32, which incidentally was used on the 1942 Dodge car, is also such that the movement of the lever in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the steering column, results in a movement of the shaft 32 to either effect a shift rail selecting operation of the crank I2 or effect a declutching operation of the cluch 42 anda clos ng of a selector switch 41 to prepare the mechanism for its power operation.

Describing theaforementioned clutch mechanism 42,the said mechanism includes a member 44 sleeved over the lower end of-the shaft 32, said member being permanently secured, as by brazing, to the crank 40. The lower end portion'of the member 44 is provided with a flange 46 which is recessed at 48, Figure 3, to provide .a keyway for. a key portion 50 of a spool-shaped end portion of a clutch member 52, said member being s'eeved over and drivably connected by splines 54 to the end portion 56 of the shaft 32. A nut 58, threaded on the'end of the shaft portion 56, serves as a stop for the clutch mech- 4 anism which is biased downwardly by the operation of the spring 38.

The upper arm 80 of a bell-crank lever 32 .fits withinthe spool-shaped portionof the clutch member 52 and the lower arm- 84 of said lever is pivotally connected, by a link 56, to the shift rail selecting crank I2. As is disclosed in Figure 4, the spring 38 serves .to bias the clutch 42 and shaft 32 as a unit downwardly, the movement being limited by a stop 68, Figure 4, constituting a part of a steering column mounted bracket member and in this position of the clutch 42 the shift railselector crank I2 is actuated to prepare the transmission for either a second gear or I high gear operation. said operation of course depending upon the subsequent actuation of the shift rail operating crank -I4. Toactuate the crank I2 to prepare the transmission for either a low gear or reverse gear operation, that is a selection of the low and reverse gear shift rail of the transmission, the driver lifts the shift lever 43 upwardly in a plane perpendicular to-the plane of the steering wheel; and this operation serves to rotate the bell crank lever 62 in a counterthe plane of the steering wheeltherebyeflecting Y an angular movment of the crank which is preferably co'nnectedto the crank I4 by force transmitting means including link 'l2, a bell crank lever 14 and a link I6.

There is thus provided, by the above described mechanism, means for manually operating a three-speeds forward and reverse transmission; and in this manual operatlonof the transmission the shift lever 43 is movable to six different positions, said selective movement outlining the letter H.

Afeature ofthe mechanism of Figure 1 lies in the power means for operating the transmission and clutch and said means is diagrammatically disclosed in Figure 1. The principal element of this power means consists of a single acting fluid pressure motor I8 operably connected to'the clutch throwout shaft I8 and to the shift rail operating crank I4; and said motor is controlled by a standard type of solenoid operated three way valve 80, no claim .to which ismade.

Describing now the. details of the aforementionecl power means, the power element 82 of the motor 18 is connected to the crank 24 by a'link 84; and said crank is yieldingly connected to an alternator that is a direction changing mechanism 86 by means, preferably including a pin 92 extending from the crank. One end of a spring 94, preferably coiled around the link .88,

is connected to a pin 96 secured tosaid link; and the other end of said spring is fastened to the pin 92. A crank 98 of the alternator mechanism 86 is 'pivotally connected to the bell crank lever I4 by a link I00. The alternator mechanism 34 is not disclosed in detail inasmuch as this well known type of mechanism may be of any standard design. Suflice it to say that with the alternator 86 constituting a part of the force transmitting linkage interconnecting the motor I8 and crank I4, successive lineal movementsof the rod 38 in one direction will effect a reciproca'tory movement of said crank. There is thus provided in the alternator 84, means whereby of the motor II, said means includes the electrical mechanism disclosed in Figures 1 and 2; and this mechanism-comprises a grounded battery I38, the ignition switch I40 of the car, the

aforementioned shift lever operated selector switch 41, an accelerator operated breaker switch I42 which is closed when the accelerator is released, a shift rail operated switch mechanism I44, a vehicle speed responsive single pole double throw governor operated switch mechanism I40 and a grounded solenoid I40 which operates the motor controlling three way valve 00. The aforementioned switch mechanisms are electrically interconnected as disclosed in Figure 2, and of said mechanisms 1 the accelerator operated switch I42 is of a conventional breaker switch construction; accordingly, the same is not disclosed in detail.

The switch mechanisms I44 and I46 are disclosed in detail in my aforementioned parent application No. 642,240, however for the present purposes suflice it to say that the mechanism I44 is so constructed that one electrical circuit through the mechanism. Figure 2, is broken when the transmission is established in its second gear setting and the other circuit through the mech anism is broken when the transmission is established in its third gear setting. As to the governor operated switch mechanism I46, it will be noted,

from an inspection of Figure 2. that one electrical circuit through the mechanism is made when l ating therewith, electrical means for controlling the valve 80 to initiate operations of the motor 78 at certain vehicle speeds and to automatically out said motor out of operation that is de-energize themotor, when the setting of the transmission has beeneifected.

Describing now the complete operation of the mechanism of my invention, and incidentally completin the description of the parts of said mechanism not heretofore described, it will be assumed that the three-speeds forward and reverse transmission I0 is neutralized and that the car is at a standstill with the engine idling, thereby making of the intake manifold of'said engine a source of vacuum. The driver will then probably wish to establish the transmission in its 'low gear setting whereupon he will first manually depress the clutch pedal 26 to disengage the clutch and will then operate the shift lever 43 to manually effect said setting.

In this operation the force transmitting linkage of my invention is operated to successively actuate the cranks I2 and I4. The accelerator will then be depressed as the clutch is re-engaged to get the car under way; and after the desired car speed is reached, the shift lever and clutch pedal are again operated to establish the'transmission in its second gear setting. The car being then under way in second gear at the desired speed, the driver will probably wish to be relieved 6 of the opera ion of the, transmission and clutch; accordingly, 0 effect this result he will move the shift lever to its automatic position, that is, one of the seven selective positions of said lever.

escribing the latter operation the shift lever 43, whichat the time is in its second gear setting, is rotated downwardly that is angularly in a clockwise direction in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the steering wheel; and this operation serves to bodily move the shaft 32 downwardly to disengage the clutch 42 and close the switch 41.

In this declutching operation of the clutch mechanism 42, the driving clutch member 52 is moved away from the driven clutch member 44 the movement of the latter being prevented by the stop 68. The two clutch members are preferably biased into engagement with each other by a spring, not shown, included in the connection between the shift'lever 43 and the shaft 32.

Referring to Figures 3 and 5 there is disclosed a latch mechanism for holding the shift leverin its automatic position, said mechanism including a relatively narrow rectangular shaped stop member II4.' Now when the shift lever 43 s is moved to its automatic position a relatively narrow wedge-shaped flange portion III; of the member I I2 is rocked and/or bodily lifted, against the tension of the'spring IIO, by the camming action of a wedge-shaped peripheral edge portion II8 of a stop member I20 which is secured to the pin 55, Figure 4, between the lower flange portion of the clutch member 52 and the nut 58; and this operation serves to position said peripheral edge portion H8 in the space indicated by the reference numeral I22, Figure 3. Incidentally the shift rail selecting mechanism of the transmission and the cooperating transmission parts are-so constructed that the crank 62 may be moved beyond its second and high shift rail selective position in effecting the above described automatic setting of the shift lever.

Now at this juncture it is to be noted, from an inspection of Figure 5, that a rectangular shaped stop member I 24, secured to the outer face of the stop-member I20 by screws I25, is in contact with the member I I4 when the parts are in their transmission neutral position and when the spring 38 has operated to move the crank I2 to its second and high shift rail position, that is the position preparing the transmission for either second or high gear operation. It follows therefore that the stop member I20 mustbe rotated clockwise in Figure 5 so that the member I24 will clear the member I I4 before the shift lever may be moved downwardly to its automatic position, that is, the position to close the switch 41'; and it becomes apparent from the above description that the parts of the mechanism are so constructed and arranged that this automatic setting of the shift lever may only be effected after said shift lever has been moved to establish the transmis sion in its second gear setting. Referring to Figure-'5 of the drawings in this position of the parts, that is the second gear setting, a stop I28 on the member I20 will contact the side of the members I 02 and H2 and the stop member I24 will be positioned to the right of the member II4. Completing the description of the member I a stop I30 is'provided thereon to contact one sideof the members I02 and H2 \vhen the shift lever is moved toeither its'low or high gear position.

Continuing the description of the operation of the mechanism the driver having moved the shift lever to its automatic position and assuming that the car is traveling above governor speed the transmission will then be automatically established in its'high gear setting after the driver releases the accelerator to close the switch I42; for with this operation an electrical circuit is completed via the grounded battery I38, the ignition switch I40, the then closed selector switch 41, the then closed accelerator operated switch I42, one of the switches of the rail switch I, Figure 2, one of the switches of the governor operated switch. I46, and the grounded solenoid I40. The resulting operation of the three way valve 80 effects an energization of the motor I8 the piston 82 of the latter being then subjected sion of an automotive vehicle. With such a mechanism the driver may manually operate the clutch and the three speeds forward and reverse transmission in .a conventional manner,- that is, by operating the clutch pedal and by effecting the H movement of the shift lever;

then if he desires an automatic operation of the transmission to alternately establish the same in its second and high gearsettings he has only to move the shift lever from its second gear setting to its automatic setting. Thereafter for all normal straight ahead driving of the vehicle the driver need only operate the accelerator. However, if the car becomes mired heprobably will, after a manual disengagement of the clutch, operate the shift lever to establish the transmission in its low gear setting;' and to reverse to a differential of pressures to move the same to the right, Figure 1. The left side of the piston -82 is at all times subjected to the pressure of the atmosphere via an opening I32. in one end of the motor and the right side of said piston, that is,

the side constituting a wall of compartment I35,

is subjected to a relatively low gaseous pressure when the three way valve 80 is opened to interconnect said compartment with the intake manifold or other source of vacuum. When the latter valve is closed, that. is, when the solenoid I48 is de-energized, the compartment I35 is vented to the atmosphere through said valve and the spring I34 within said compartment is then o'perative to move the piston 82 to the left, Figure 1, to permit a re-engagement of the friction clutch.

Describing the clutch disengaging and transmission operating operation of the motor the above referred to rightward movement of the piston 82 serves to rotate the crank 24 to disengage the clutch; and as this operation is being the direction of movement of the car'the driver must. of course, first manually disengage the clutch and then operate the shift lever to'establish the transmission in its reverse gear setting.

If a second gear settingof the transmission is desired when the transmission is established in; its high gear setting and the shift lever is positioned in its automatic setting, then the driver will, after manually disengaging the clutch, first move the shift lever out of its automatic setting whereupon he will successively rotate. the shift lever to its high gear position to mesh the clutch members 44 and 52 and then rotate said lever to its second gear position.

There is thus provided, by the force tran mitting linkage of my invention, a simple and compast mechanism for successively operating two cranks of a power plant; and with this mechanism one of said cranks may, at the will of the operator, be operated either by the physical effort 'of the driver or b power means.

effected the spring 94 is expanded inasmuch as r the rod 88 cannot be moved to operate the transmission until after the driving torque is reversed, that is, until after the clutch is disengaged. Now immediately after the. clutch plates are moved out of contact with each other to reverse the driving torque the above described force transmitting means interconnecting the rod 08 and crank I4 becomes operative to move said crank and establish the transmission in its high gear setting; and as this operation of the transmis-' .sipn is being completedv the rail switch I is broken. Now the breakingof the latter switch results in a de-energization of the solenoid I I8 and as described above this results in a de- :energization of the motor 18 to permit a reengagement of the clutch. At this juncture it is to be remembered that when the alternator 06 is operated in the operation of establishing the transmission in its high gear setting said alternator is operated immediately thereafter to preselect a subsequent operation of the-transmi sion to establish the same in its second gear setting.

The transmission will now remain in its high gear setting until the car is slowed down below governor speed and the accelerator is released whereupon the motor I8 will again be energized to establish the transmission in its second gear setting andto operate the clutch to facilitate said operation.

In the mechanism of Figure 1 there is provided a simple and effective manually and power' operated mechanism for, operating the transmis- Although only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, various changes in the form and relative arrangements of said cran s, power means connected to the latter force transmitting means, and latch means 'for holding the clutch members separatcd when the power mechanism is operative to actuate the .last mentioned force transmitting means.

2. Manually and power operated force transmitting means for successively operating two cranks. of a transmission including a manually operated-driving clutch member, force transmitting means adapted to interconnect said member with one of the said cranks, a driven clutch member, force transmitting means adaptedto interconnect the latter clutch member with the other of said cranks, power means, including a pressure differential operated motor, connected to the latter force transmitting means, and latch means, including a plurality of relatively movable members, for holding the clutch members separated when the power mechanism is operative to actuate the last mentioned force transmitting means.

3. Manually and power operated means adapted to operate a three speeds forward and reverse automotive transmission including a shift.

rail selecting crank and a shift rail actuating crank, including a manually operated shift lever, a driving clutch member, force transmitting means interconnecting the shift lever and driving clutch member, force transmitting means adapted to interconnect the driving clutch member and the shift rail selecting crank, a driven clutch member, force transmitting means adapted to interconnect the latter member with the shift rail actuating crank, and power means for actuating the latter force transmitting means.

4. Manually and power operated means adapted to operate a three speeds forward and reverse automotive transmission including a shift rail selecting crank and a shift rail actuating crank, said means including a manually operated shift lever, a driving clutch member, force transmitting means interconnecting the shift lever and driving clutch member, force transmitting means adapted to interconnect the driving clutch member and the shift rail selecting crank,

a driven clutch member, force transmitting means adapted to interconnect the latter member with the shift rail actuating crank, latch means for holding the clutch members separated when the driving clutch member is moved to a 10 certain position, and power means, including a pressure diiferential operated motor, for actuating the latter force transmitting means.

EARL R. PRICE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATEN'IS Number Name Date 1,137,507 McKeever Apr. 27, 1915 2,275,779 MacPherson Mar. 10, 1942 2,277,913 Keeling Mar. 31, 1942 2,292,325 Lowler Aug. 4, 1942 2,292,633 Griswold Aug. 11, 1942 2,324,571 Fitz July 20, 1943 2,359,490 Rappl Oct. 3, 1944 2,365,732 Snow Dec. 26, 1944 2,374,303 Osborne Apr. 24, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 393,380 Great Britain June 1, 1933 496,727 Great Brl taln Dec. 2, 1938 

